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A trending topic right now seems to be the decision to opt for “mini-dental implants” instead of more traditional ones. Below we are going to take a look inside the trend, and lay out some of the benefits and drawbacks so that you can get a better understanding of this exciting trend in dentistry.

Benefits

Mini dental implants are usually less expensive than traditional ones, sometimes costing only 1/3 that of regular implants. They take less time to place and are smaller and less invasive, and can be used in small spaces or for those with inadequate bone mass.

With mini dentures, smaller dentures can be used, leading to a better tasting experience for the palate than a traditional denture would provide.

Mini implants can be placed with minimal recovery time, and usually require very little to no bone grafting.

Drawbacks

Because this is still a fairly new procedure, there are a few downsides. For one, there aren’t enough studies out there on the longevity of these implants, so we don’t know how they hold up over time. A study published in the International Journal of Implant Dentistry in 2016 revealed that traditional dental implant placement has a proven survival rate of 95% or greater. The analysis collected data from over 10,000 implants from 3,095 patients, across three separate private practices over the course of 20 years. For mini dental implants, there isn’t yet enough data to conclude a proper survival rate.

Another concern is that because this is such a new trend there is not as much information or regulation out there. Some practices with claims such as “Dentures-in-a-day” might not do a proper consultation, skipping important steps such as a 3D scan to make sure that you are a good candidate for the procedure.

While it may be some time before this method is perfected and adopted, it is also exciting to see the advancements changing people’s lives in the dental industry every day. Check in with SF Perio: Olivares and Pasquinelli to find out what tooth replacement options may be right for you

Posted by
kpasquinelli on
Aug 1st, 2017 12:36 pm
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As you may or may not know, July is officially National Ice Cream Month! While it is fun to go and grab ice cream from your local shop down the street, it can be more fun and rewarding to make your own ice cream for you and your family to enjoy. Ice cream is also a great treat to enjoy after different types of oral surgery. You don’t need an ice cream maker in order to make delicious, creamy ice cream. Just follow our instructions below!

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

– 2 cups of milk
– 3 tablespoons of sugar
– 2 teaspoons of vanilla

Materials:

Instructions:

– Combine milk, vanilla and sugar in quart sized bag
– Press any air out of bag and seal tightly
– Mix ice and salt in gallon sized bag
– Place quart sized bag into gallon sized bag and seal tightly
– Shake the bag vigorously for about 5 minutes.
– It will be very cold, be careful!
– Liquid inside smaller bag should start to harden
– Let bags sit for a few minutes with ice in large bag surrounding small bag
– Open bags up and scoop ice cream out
– Enjoy!!

As you can see, it isn’t hard to shake up some ice cream that the whole family can enjoy, using fairly standard household ingredients. Use chocolate/strawberry milk instead of regular milk to change the flavor, or use half and half for a creamier product. This year, celebrate National Ice Cream month by making your own ice cream at home!

Posted by
kpasquinelli on
Jul 14th, 2017 10:28 am
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Brushing and flossing your teeth every day can keep your smile bright and white. However, you might have noticed that even though you take great care of your teeth, they look a little yellow and have lost their sparkle. This is completely normal. Here are 5 reasons why this could be happening to you.

Food and Drinks:

Coffee, tea and red wine play a major role in staining your teeth. They all have Chromogens, which are intense color pigments that attach to the white outer part of your tooth known as enamel.
Tip: Drink with a straw, keeping those stain-causing dyes in the drink away from your teeth

Tobacco Use:

The two chemicals found in tobacco, tar and nicotine, create a tough stain. Tar is naturally dark. Nicotine is colorless, but when it’s mixed with oxygen, it creates a yellowish color. Both together create the stain.

Age:

Below the white shell of enamel on our teeth is a softer area called Dentin. Over the years, our outer enamel gets thinner from brushing and the yellowish dentin shows through.

Trauma:

If you have experienced an injury to the mouth, your tooth may change color. This is because your tooth reacts to the trauma by putting down more dentin, which is darker than the outer enamel on your teeth.

Medications:

Many different kind of medications come with the side effect of darkening your teeth. Also, children who are exposed to medication when their teeth are forming, either in the womb or as a baby, can experience discoloration of their adult teeth later in life.

Some of these reasons are preventable and some of these happen over the course of life. Try to avoid some of these things and continue to brush and floss your teeth every day. If you would like to discuss your teeth whitening options with us, please call our office at 415-781-7147 to schedule an appointment.

When your general dentist refers to you as a periodontist, the first question many people may have is, “what exactly is a periodontist?” Well, to put it simply, periodontists specialize in the placement of dental implants and the treatment of periodontal disease. They are specialists who are trained to keep your gums healthy enough in order for you to be able to keep your teeth for life. Periodontists receive an extra three years of specialized training on top of the standard schooling/training that dentists go through.

Periodontics is defined as “the branch of dentistry concerned with the structures surrounding and supporting the teeth.” Periodontists typically deal with gum disease and keeping your teeth in your mouth by repairing your gums. If the issue is less serious, a general dentist may be able to treat it. However, if the problem becomes more severe or intense, you will be referred to a periodontist for special care.

A study by the CDC states that half of Americans aged 30 or older have periodontitis, which is roughly equal to 64.7 million people. There are multiple ways that gum disease can be treated, including surgery, and also by the use of lasers. Periodontists not only specialize in the treatment of gum diseases and repair, but also in the placement of dental implants. Dental implants have become an extremely popular alternative to dentures and are a great way to replace a single tooth or a group of teeth, while keeping your smile perfect.

Knowing a little bit more about what periodontics is can help you have a better understanding of what to expect the next time you need to visit one. If you believe you are having issues with your gums, or would like to receive more information on receiving a dental implant, please call SF Perio: Olivares and Pasquinelli at San Francisco Office Phone Number 415-781-7147 today for more information!

Posted by
kpasquinelli on
Jun 7th, 2017 12:33 pm
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Don’t let bad breath be a part of your day! In our office, we are asked on an almost daily basis “How can I get rid of my bad breath?”

Here are some quick and easy tips to help keep your breath fresh and clean:

1. Brush and Floss Regularly:It’s basic advice, but foolproof. Brushing at least twice a day and flossing and tongue scraping once is the best way to combat bad breath. When the bacteria in your mouth have bits of food and debris to feed on, they create the odors that cause bad breath. Keeping your mouth clean will keep your breath clean at the same time!

2. Drink Water:
You don’t always have access to a toothbrush. As it turns out though, water can be an effective way to freshen your breath until you can get home and brush. Water helps clean out your mouth and prevents dryness, another major cause of bad breath.

3. Eat Good Foods:
A good way to prevent bad breath is to stay away from foods that make your breath smell bad, and eat foods those that will help your breath smell good! Melons and citrus fruit are high in Vitamin C, and help kill bacteria in your mouth. Fibrous foods like apples and celery can help remove food stuck in your teeth, reducing smells caused by bacteria feeding on them.

4. Choose gum and mints with Xylitol:
Sugary gum and breath mints are often used to tackle bad breath. However, the stinky bacteria in your mouth love sugar, and giving them more tends to produce acid that can make your breath smell worse AND lead to tooth decay. Xylitol is a sugar alternative that bacteria cannot break down, which makes it a perfect method for keeping your breath fresh and clean.

If you are troubled by your bad breath, ask us for more tips on staying fresh and clean!

Posted by
kpasquinelli on
May 3rd, 2017 12:40 pm
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Dental implants have a surprisingly rich and interesting history. Across centuries and throughout cultures around the world there is evidence of attempts at replacing missing teeth with various objects and materials.

The oldest dental implants can be traced back to 2000 BC in China, where missing teeth were substituted with bamboo pegs.

Fast forward a bit to around 1000 BC and you’ll find an ancient Egyptian King whose tomb was recently discovered along with his mummified remains; a copper peg hammered into place where a tooth once lived. This may have been the first time in history that we know of when metal implants were used.

Across the globe some time around 300 BC, an iron tooth was found in a French grave thought to be Celtic in origin. It is possible this implant may have been a post-mortem placement to honor the dead, as an attempt to perform the surgery using a live patient would have been an excruciatingly painful process.

Just 2000 years ago missing teeth were being substituted for animal teeth, and the poor were even selling their teeth to the wealthy, just to make ends meet! The body often rejected these surrogate teeth, causing infection.

More recently in 1931 in Honduras, Dr. Wilson Monroe and his wife found a jawbone amongst other artifacts, with teeth fashioned from shells and attached to the jawbone of an ancient man.

Today we are lucky enough to have dental implants that not only look and feel like real teeth, and anesthesia for the pain is also a plus. Thanks to studies conducted by Per-Ingvar Brånemark of Sweden in the 1950’s, oral surgeons have been able to perfect the process over the years to create today’s implants, which have a 98% success rate! Through a process known as osseointegration, metals and other implant materials are able to be skillfully placed so that your jaw bone actually attaches itself to the implant creating a seamless support system.

Rubber tipping, a method of introducing oxygen to your gums to fight difficult bacteria, as well as clearing out plaque and excess food debris from under your gums, is a new method of keeping gums healthy. There is good evidence that the bacteria that hide out in gums pockets, the space between your teeth and your gums, can be destroyed with the introduction of oxygen. You can find rubber tips at the end of some toothbrushes, or as an individual tool at your local drugstore.

How it works:

Using a rubber tip and massaging your gums increases the flow of blood and oxygen to your gums. Oral bacteria are “anaerobic”, meaning they cannot survive in the presence of oxygen, so by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the gums, oral bacteria die off.

Benefits of rubber tipping:

While brushing and flossing also helps to bring oxygen to the gums, rubber tipping brings it a step further by stimulating blood flow.

Rubber tipping helps to prevent periodontal disease by keeping your gums clean – free of plaque and food debris – and by stimulating blood flow to the area.How to massage your gums with a rubber tip:

After thoroughly brushing and flossing your teeth, massaging your gums is the third step to keeping your smile clean and healthy.

Using the rubber tip tool at a 45-degree angle, gently massage your gum line for 10-15 seconds for each tooth.

If you experience bleeding gums at any point in this process, give us a call.

General soreness is to be expected up to three weeks after starting rubber tipping.While this may seem like another tedious way to clean your gums, this simple technique can be carried out while watching TV, reading, etc. and before you know it you will have amazing gums!If you have any further questions about how to use a rubber tip, or why we recommend it, give SF Perio: Olivares and Pasquinelli a call at San Francisco Office Phone Number 415-781-7147.

Dental implants, titanium posts that are placed within your jawbone, are an excellent option for restoring missing teeth. The process of getting dental implants typically takes a few appointments over the span of several months, and since the strength of dental implants comes from their fusion with the jawbone, proper healing from this surgery is absolutely essential. Here are some tips for a speedy and well-healed recovery!

Prepare

One of the best ways to promote a speedy recovery is to properly prepare for dental implant placement. Get ready for your procedure by:
● Getting plenty of sleep
● Avoiding smoking or drinking excessively
● Plan to avoid eating or drinking for 6 hours before your surgery if you will be sedated
● Maintain your oral health! Brush twice a day and floss once a day!
● Arrange for someone to drive you to and from your procedure
● Pick up post-surgical prescriptions, cold compresses, and any other supplies
● Review your surgical packet so you know exactly what to expect
Getting ready before your dental implant surgery can make a huge difference in the recovery afterwards!

Recovery Time Factors

Recovery time for the dental implants procedure depends on several factors. While each patient’s case is slightly different, these following factors are the main contributors to healing time:
● The number of implants: Having a single implant may take less recovery time than multiple implant placement.
● Whether or not you require procedures such as bone or gum grafting
● Your oral and overall health: the healthier you are, the easier it will be for you to heal quickly.
Dr. Olivares will explain your unique estimated recovery time based on these and other factors at your consultation.

After Your Surgery

After the procedure, the healing process can be sped up through:
● Biting down on gauze to staunch the bleeding
● Avoiding any activity that could put pressure on your mouth
● Taking proper prescribed medication
● Eating soft foods and avoiding chewing near the treatment area
● Rinsing your mouth with warm saltwater between meals
● Using a cold compress to reduce swelling
● Gently retaining oral health routines like brushing and flossing

Following these guidelines, you will be able to heal comfortably and successfully!
To learn more about this treatment, or schedule a consultation, call 415-781-7147 and come see us at SF Perio: Olivares and Pasquinelli today!

While it is true that the most obvious effect of missing teeth is a gap in your smile, missing teeth can cause other problems that you might not be immediately aware of. For example, did you know that for every missing tooth you have you lose 10 percent of your chewing ability? Read on to get a better idea of how a missing tooth can affect your life.

Surrounding Teeth

A missing tooth usually means more stress for the remaining teeth. In addition to that, if you are missing a tooth on the lower jaw, the opposing tooth on the top can grow longer to fill the gap in a process known as superuption or extrusion. This could lead to teeth tilting and move out of place by drifting into the space that was left by your missing tooth – a disaster for your beautiful smile!

Digestive Health

If you are missing teeth, you can’t enjoy all of the foods that you are used to eating – bad for your health and bad for your mood! Say goodbye to caramel apples, saltwater taffy, crunchy carrots and even gum. And because the variety in your diet is reduced when a tooth is missing, digestive problems are unfortunate yet common.

Decay and Hygiene Problems

The shifting of your teeth may cause new hygiene issues as it may be difficult to brush and floss like you normally would. This leaves your mouth more vulnerable to gum disease and tooth decay.

Facial Aesthetics

People with more than one missing tooth may also have issues with a collapsed bite which causes a loss of vertical dimension. This could make your face appear shorter, as the distance between the tip of your nose and your chin would decrease.

The good news is that you don’t have to suffer anymore! Dental implants can help you avoid all of the problems listed above and let you live your life normally again. It’s never too late for a dental implant, give us a call at San Francisco Office Phone Number 415-781-7147 to find out about this life-changing procedure.

Posted by
kpasquinelli on
Jan 4th, 2017 9:17 am
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In today’s world, a beautiful smile translates to a more confident (and some say more successful) person. Whether you are talking about the business world or your social circle, the fact of the matter is that smiles simply look better now than they did 10, 15 or 20 years ago.

The fact that nearly half of patients spend $2,500 or more per year on cosmetic treatments in the dental office such as teeth whitening, veneers and orthodontics proves the significance of an attractive smile these days.

Did you know that as Periodontists, we can take your smile to the next level? Whether you were blessed to be born with perfect crowns or have paid substantial money to bring them up to par, we can further perfect your smile to make your investment really worth it with a cosmetic periodontal treatment. Whether you have a gummy smile (too much gum tissue covering your teeth) or the opposite, and hove lost gum, we can give you a smile boost that will ensure that you have the look you want for a happier and more confident you.

A Lifestyle Investment – A great smile gives you a competitive advantage in today’s world. Invest in your career and your personal life by making sure yours is at its best.